Wrapping up the week

After a drastic change in barometric pressure yesterday, I was sidelined all night with a raging migraine.  But I woke up feeling much better and ready for the weekend.  Tomorrow I'm only working a half day and then it's off to Disney!!!  So with that being said, I'm catching up on yesterday's blog challenge and today's!


Yesterday was about Christmas Wish Lists
I'm pretty easy this year.  I don't really want too much.  I'm asking Santa for:
An Elliptical: This way I can get some training in while the kids are sleeping (I'm not all about going out for a run while the kiddos are in the house napping)
New running shoes: I haven't decided what kind I want.  All I know is I need new ones and I should probably get my feet professionally assessed since I have flat feet and over-pronate.
New scrubs:  I think I've finally realized that I spend most of my days wearing scrubs at work and that I should probably spend more money on my work wardrobe than my weekend wardrobe.  I just hate how expensive they are.
Tory Burch flats: I have been dreaming of...ok drooling over the Tory Burch riding boots (which I'll never own) so I'm hoping that maybe I'll have a pair of flats under the tree this year.  I promise I've been good!!!

Today's topic is 2012 Goals/Resolutions
Obviously losing weight is number 1.  I had done so well this time last year.  I had lost over 20lbs and thought I could keep it off without being on program (oh I do Weight Watchers...a lot)  Not only did I gain back the 20lbs, I think I gained a little (a lot) more.  I am more motivated than ever to get back on task and back in the saddle.
Improve my marriage.  I've written on here before how hard marriage is and how the Hubs and I have had some major ups and downs.  It's definitely a priority for me to make this a better year for us.
Be a better Mommy.  My kids are growing up right before my eyes and I feel like I haven't been the Mommy they deserve.  I'm sure all moms feel that every once and a while but I have a hard time with that.  Am I spending enough time with them.  Are they watching too much TV.  Should I be doing everything differently.  All my insecurities lie with my parenting skills.
Baptize Emmy.  OMG this is a biggie.  She's over 2 and still hasn't been baptized.  My goal is to baptize her before Easter.  I'm a horrible slacker and I'm sure this makes me the worst Catholic on the planet.
Save. Save. Save.  Enough said.
Take my CPHON exam.  That way I can become a Certified Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurse.
Become a better blogger.  I'm loving what blogging has brought to my life.  I've met amazing people.  I've learned so much. And I've found a great avenue to get things off my chest.  I can't wait to see where this takes me.
Appreciate the person that I am.  I need to figure out how to be happy in my skin because I've never really been happy with who I am right now.

  

Who do I celebrate the holidays???

Today was a great day!  I got to have coffee with a very good friend (an ex boyfriend).  Alan was in town for the St Pete Boat Show and was leaving today.  It was nice to catch up with him over a great Peppermint Mocha.  I am very fortunate to be very good friends with 2 of my exes.  Call me crazy or weird but that's the way it is. The Hubs doesn't get it but they really are 2 of my very close friends.  We don't see each other that often so it was a nice way to spend an hour of my morning.  Em and I also had to do a little Pampered Chef delivery at work (yes I went in on my day off) and she got to meet all my coworkers.  Then we headed over to the unit to see my former coworkers and check in on a few patients.  Emmy ended up making friends with one of the patients and we colored and had an impromptu play date for about 15 minutes.  Then we headed to have lunch with the Hubs.  Now it's nap time for Em (and maybe for Mommy).  I also got my Christmas cards in the mail, including cards to my partners for the Card Swap, and shipped my ornament to Ashley, my partner for the Ornament swap!


Today's challenge topic is all about how do you celebrate the holidays
It's simple.
It's all things Christmas!
I completely redecorate the house, even the bathrooms.  I stress over our outfits for our family pictures (which we haven't taken yet).  I make the Hubs go on the roof and hang the lights (which he hates). Our Christmas cards have to be perfect and I have to send out at least 50 of them.  I listen to Christmas music in the car.  We have to have the perfect tree with the perfect ornament layout, which isn't happening this year since the kids helped so much with the tree.  The ornaments are all over the place, which stresses me out every time I look at it, but I'm dealing with it (not really) since Noah is so proud of his tree decorating.  All the presents are wrapped with the specific wrapping paper of the year.  The kids paper always goes with the theme of their gifts and they each get their own paper, that way it's easy to spot who's gift is who's.  I'm neurotic but I'm okay with that!!!
Every Christmas Eve, we have a huge family party.  There's always too much food but we can't cut anything off the menu since it's tradition to have the same foods.  We have a gift exchange and then we head home so Santa can arrive. On Christmas morning, all of our parents and siblings and their significant others, come to the house to watch the kids open up their Santa gifts and we have our gift exchange.  Then we spend the rest of the day playing. It's the exact same way I grew up celebrating Christmas and I wouldn't change it ever!!!

How do you spend your holidays???  Link up with Amber and Neely and share it with us!!!
   

A Walk in the Park

It was such a nice weekend for us here at the Crimella house.  Saturday we finished up our Christmas light display and then rested for the remainder of the day.  Sunday we went to church for the first time in a long time.  I'm ashamed to say how long it's been since we were there.  But we went and the kids were amazing!  It always makes Mass that much better when the kids are on their best behavior.  Then we hit up the park to ride on the train.  Largo Central Park does a train ride on the first weekend of the month.  It was a cute 10 minute ride and our train nut just loved it!  I'm not sure how much Em liked it but Noah loved it!!!  Then it was off to the playground.  We checked out the Botanical Garden's light display that night.  All in all, great weekend!!!

At the top of the mountain

It's over exposed but I love her face in this one!!!

Today's Holiday Blog Challenge topic is Christmas dessert/treat recipe
This one is a Go-To recipe for me when it comes to gifts.  I made them for Christmas gifts 2 years ago and then made them for the teachers at Noah's school last year during Teacher Week.  I found it in a Taste of Home cookbook.  You can find it here.
Mocha Truffles

Ingredients

• 2 packages (12 ounces each) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1 pound dark chocolate candy coating, coarsely chopped
• White candy coating, optional

Directions

• In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Beat in cream cheese. Dissolve coffee in water; add to cream cheese and beat until smooth.
• Chill until firm enough to shape. Shape into 1-in. balls and place on waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Chill for 1-2 hours or until firm.
• In a microwave, melt chocolate coating; stir until smooth. Dip balls in chocolate; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set. Melt white coating and drizzle over truffles if desired. Yield: about 5-1/2 dozen. 

Totally easy and definitely worth the calories!!!

 

TGIF

I am so glad it's Friday!  Work week is done.  Time to play with the fam.  My living room has been invaded by my Pampered Chef items (and the items that all my amazing friends purchased) so tonight I'm going to work on that.  Tomorrow we're headed to the park to catch a ride on the little train and then we're finishing up our Christmas tree and decorations.  I'm hoping to catch a nap somewhere in there too.

Today's Holiday Blog Challenge topic is Ideal outfit for Christmas/NYE


This one is tough for me because I have nothing in mind this year.  It bothers me a little but I'm ok with it.  I love dressing up so I'm sure I'll be in a dress of some sort with my fabulous red heels.  But other than that, I've got nothing.  I'm also not a big NYE person.  We usually don't go out at all.  Actually, I've always worked NYE/NY Day.  It's never bothered me that we don't have some fancy plan for that night.  You're probably thinking that I'm so BORING.  I am but that's ok.  Hope ya'll still like me!!!
But if I were to go out, I know that there would be sparkles of some sort involved.  Whether it be glittered heels or a sparkly skirt, I know for a fact this girl would be sparkling like Edward in sunlight!

Sorry...got lost in that visual for a moment (Edward...not me).  Back to reality......

Since this is such a boring post, I thought I'd share another Chippy the Elf picture.  We've established that Chippy definitely comes to life when no one's home because Noah left a gummy bear in front of him before school and when he got home, it was gone (or eaten).  All signs point to Chippy and not the gummy bear breath I had!!!  I just love how excited he is about this silly Elf!!!

Just hanging around

He's so cute but so creepy!!!  I always imagine this thing coming to life, coming to the side of my bed while I'm sleeping and rubbing my face.....CREEPY!!!!

 Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Special Teams Coaches Inquire Here

Well I'm officially depressed by my football team.  Why can't USF actually play decent football on both sides of the ball???  It doesn't work when your defense is really good, your offense is mediocre, and your special teams is HORRIBLE.  I'm hoping we can pull off a big win over West Virginia tonight so we can become bowl eligible (such a sad statement...we're not even bowl eligible yet.  Yep...we're that bad this year).  It's a sad, sad season. For Reals....and if that's not depressing enough, I've had 2 sweet patients relapse this week.  Cancer sucks big time.  And it sucks even more in kiddos.

But here's something that makes me happy....Christmas Movies!!!  Today's topic is all about holiday movies.  Wait...you're not linking up with Amber and Neely?!?!  You should!!!!  It's the coolest (said in my very best Billy Madison voice)
 

Hands down, the best Christmas movie is Love Actually.  The airport scene at the end.  The adorable boy pining over his classmate.  Falling in love in a foreign country.  Absolutely amazing!!!  I could watch it a million times in a row.
 
And to make it even better, the Hubs loves it too.  We just love it when it comes on.
What's your favorite holiday movie???
Have a great Friday everyone!!!

Holiday Blog Challenge Day 3

Let me just tell you how much I wanted to go back to work today after a great 6 days off....um yeah....not at all.  I really need to hit the lotto or something so this girl can stay at home on a daily basis.  That would be the life.  But I digress....


Today's theme for the Holiday Blog Challenge goes along with everything we've been doing tonight (we started to decorate our Christmas tree).  Today is all about Holiday Decor.
I live for Christmas time.  It really is my favorite time of year.  I get excited when Christmas decorations are sneaking in at Target while the Halloween costumes are still out. I'm not mad that Christmas music was being played on the radio a few days before Thanksgiving.  Yes.  I'm one of those people.  So of course Christmas is one of the only holidays I actually decorate the house for.  The Hubs hates Christmas but is nice enough to put on a happy face and get on the roof to put the lights on the house.  He also lets me add a new little something to our outside decor every year.  This year it was a set of 3 lighted gift boxes for the yard!!!
When it comes to Christmas, I collect snowmen and Nativity scenes.  I think I gravitated towards snowmen because my Mom decorates in all Santa's.  I don't know where I got my Nativity scene obsession.  I still have my very first scene that I used to put out in my bedroom when I lived at my parents.  My collection now includes the Willow Tree Nativity, my all time favorite, all the way to the Little People Nativity (and I did not buy it for my kids).  This weekend, I'll have everything set up and I'm sure I'll post a pic or twelve!
I just can't wait for my newest Christmas decor craft.  I'm not going to blab what it is until it's completed but all I can say is acrylic paint, empty Wallflower plug ins, and apothecary jars!!!
Here's a few pics of some of our decor from years past

Some of the snowmen in our old entertainment center (I think in 2009)

My favorite, courtesy of my Momma

My first ever Nativity Scene

Yes, I got very excited when I saw this in the stores!!!

 Hope all of you are having a great time decorating for the holidays!!!

Holiday Challenge Day 2

I am so excited to say that I am thisclose to being done with my Christmas gifts.  Santa's been done with the kiddos for a while now, even though this Elf keeps adding more to the loot.  I spoil them.  I can't help it.  I'm finishing up the Grandparents gifts today, getting them ordered, and will patiently await that bright orange package that Shutterfly will send me.  Honestly, I think they know my address by heart now.  2 weeks ago, I got a delivery from them 4 times in one week.  I'm anticipating another delivery in a few days with the last one to show up next week.  What can I say?  I might have a problem!!!


Now on to Day 2 of the Fabulous Holiday Blog Challenge.
Today's topic....Fav Holiday Tradition, old or new

I've grown up loving this time of year.  My mom always had the house decorated to the max. Christmas music was always on.  My most favorite tradition, that continues on to this day, is that we all gather together as a family on Christmas Eve.  Growing up, the Christmas Eve party was always at our house.  We would all go to Mass, then come back to the house.  We would have tons of food (and the same foods all the time....people live for Christmas Eve and my mom's beer meatballs and hot dogs in mustard/grape jelly),  and pass out the gifts and open them up with everyone watching.  Sometimes, my cousins would spend the night and Santa would bring all of their presents to our house.  Now that we're all grown, the big Christmas Eve party has been moved to my house.  I love entertaining in general but hosting the family Christmas Eve party is something I've always dreamed of doing.  It's an honor that's been passed down to me and I try to make it as great as I remember it being growing up.

Now that I have my own family, the Hubs and I wanted to start some traditions of our own.  We have all the grandparents over Christmas morning to watch the kiddos open up their Santa gifts.  We have a huge breakfast and then the kids get to play with their new toys for the rest of the day.  This year, we added a new tradition that I've been wanting to do for 2 years now.  This is the newest addition to our family:

Meet Chippy, the Elf on our Shelf

The Hubs is creeped out by this little guy.  I think he's adorable!  But the Hubs is also deathly afraid of lawn gnomes so I guess it makes sense (and gives me so many devious plans to freak him out!).  Noah just adores Chippy and every morning, he gets up, checks to see if he traveled to the North Pole to check in with Santa.  Then its time to find out where he landed (aka where I hid him).  It's a fun thing for all of us to do together.  As much as it freaks out the Hubs, I know he loves how excited Noah is about it.  Noah even called him yesterday morning to let him know that Chippy went to the North Pole.  I mean how much cuter does it get?!?!  I've been taking pictures of Chippy's daily landing spots and I'm planning on printing them out and putting them in an album every year.  I have so many plans for when it's time for him to return to the North Pole for the year.  I'm thinking postcards from vacation spots, friendly updates, birthday cards.  The possibilities are endless!!!

  Don't forget to share your traditions and link up with Amber and Neely!!!
  

Fab Holiday Blog Challenge Day 1

2 posts in one day?!?!?  There are some weeks where I can't even post twice in 7 days!  Take that Hubs (he told me I was the worst blogger ever at dinner tonight)  This is y'all's lucky day (Did I just make that word up?)  The brilliant minds behind Brunch with Amber and A Complete Waste of Makeup came up with another awesome blog challenge all about my favorite time of year!!!



Day 1: Fav gift received for Christmas
I'm going to cheat a little because I got my favorite gift a week before Christmas in 2004.  I was presented with this sweet number by the soon to be Hubs:

Granted the actual engagement ring part was just the center stone and the band with diamonds.  The 6 diamonds around the center stone are part of my wedding band but you get the idea

Now the proposal itself was less than exciting (worst proposal ever) but I love my ring so it makes up for it (not really).
Love you Hubs!!!!